The Lady Defender Classic

Bryan Station High School, Lexington, KY

The Lady Defender Classic has been in existence for 18
years.Eight Miss Basketball, eleven
State Tournament M.V.P.s, two Parade Magazine All-Americans, and
eleven state champions have participated in this one day showcase event.This year’s slate of games should carry on
the fine tradition of this event.Teams
scheduled to participate are Harrison Co., Madison Central, Clinton Co., Perry
Co. Central, West Carter, Henry Clay, Muhlenberg North, and Bryan Station.Muhlenberg North, West Carter, Clinton Co.,
and Henry Clay are all ranked in the Lexington Herald-Leader top ten.Some of the top players in the state are scheduled to perform
today.Jade Perry and Holly
Mills (Muhlenberg North), Megen Gearheart and Meghan Hillman
(West Carter), Nastassia Alcius (Henry Clay), Angela Brown (Clinton
Co.), and Tracy Harbut (Bryan Station) are all ranked in the Lexington
Herald-Leader pre-season top twenty five list of players.

Madison Central defeated Harrison Co. 42-38 in a game that
remained close from horn to horn with the lead changing several times.Madison Central was led in scoring by Olivia
Terry with 13 points.Jeannie
Vorbeck and Lori Parsons added 10 and 9 points respectively.Harrison Co. was led by Amanda Linville and
Megan Gray with 11 points each.Allison
Snedeker and Brooke Faulkner added 8 and 6 points respectively.

Two Clinton Co. starters Joann Vitatoe and Kristina
Curry stayed home to take their college entrance exams but the Lady
Bulldogs came out red hot and raced to a 45-29 halftime lead.They maintained their intensity in the
second half and rolled to a 81-55 victory.All five Clinton Co. starters reached double figures led by Paige
Guffey and Rachel Matthews with 19 and 17 points respectively.Angela Brown, Amber Guffey,
and Brittany Abbott added 12, 12, and 11 points respectively.Perry Co. Central was led by Britta Maggard
with 12 points.Bertha Sebastian
and 5-10 So. Brittany Baker added 8 points each.

West Carter defeated Henry Clay 64-59 in a championship
caliber game.The lead changed hands
several times with West Carter finally claiming the victory thanks to a
sparkling performance from the free throw line.The Lady Comets shot 95.6% (22 of 23) from the free throw
stripe.West Carter was led today by Megen
Gearheart with 17 points and she was the primary ballhandler against Henry
Clay’s pressure defense.Kayla Jones
added 15 points including six key free throws down the stretch.Meghan Hillman added 10 points.Henry Clay was led today by their guard duo
of Nastassia Alcius and Johnna Carlisle with 18 and 14 points
respectively.Mary Tobin added
10 points and rebounded well.

Bryan Station evened the score 38-38 early in the third
quarter before Muhlenberg North pulled away for a 70-61 victory.Muhlenberg North shot 52% from the field and
forced 30 Bryan Station turnovers to overcome great performances by the
talented Bryan Station duo of Tracy Harbut and Sharia Young.Muhlenberg North was led by Jade Perry with
23 points.Holly Mills, Amanda
Burden, and Jasmine Perry added 15, 14, and 10 points
respectively.Bryan Station was led by Tracy
Harbut and Sharia Young with 26 points each.

Conclusion

This was a great day of basketball.The teams were as good as advertised and the
players lived up to their reputations.Some of the teams appearing in this event could very well be in the
final hunt for the state championship in March.Clinton Co. has a solid team and the Guffey twins bring a
lot of excitement and great outside shooting to the game and Angela Brown
adds strength inside the paint.Henry
Clay should be a top contender for the 11th region championship and
Bryan Station has a lot of firepower in Tracy Harbut and Sharia Young.Muhlenberg North has a very balanced team
with excellent outside shooting and a real inside force in Jade Perry.West Carter has an excellent team with a
great floor leader in Megen Gearheart.Harrison Co., Madison Central, and Perry Co. Central all have the talent
to make waves in their respective regions.

A special thanks to Bryan Station coach Jackie Williams and
athletic director Susan Montgomery for the hospitality extended me
Saturday.Ms. Montgomery has always
been one of the strongest supporters of girls’ basketball.The girls’ game gets better every year and
the sky is indeed the limit.I’ll
repeat a phrase I used in covering AAU basketball this summer ---“the girls got
game.”